Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk led government in Ukraine on 16 February 2016 survived a no-confidence vote hours after the President Petro Poroshenko asked him to step down.

The no-confidence motion required 226 votes in the parliament, but only 194 out of the 339 members of the parliament supported it. This means the government will probably be safe at least until the next parliament session starts in September 2016.

The PM Yatsenyuk has been criticised over the slow pace of reforms and faces allegations of corruption. Yatsenyuk’s public support has eroded amid Ukraine’s economic problems.

Yatsenyuk became prime minister after the country’s Russia-friendly president was chased from power in February 2014 following massive protests. Later, Poroshenko was elected as the President with widespread support and a seal of approval from western leaders.

Earlier in the second week of February 2016, the IMF managing director Christine Lagarde threatened to halt the delivery of Ukraine’s 17.5 billion dollar aid package if the country is counting on to keep the economy afloat.

Comment and Analysis
Ukraine has been under a threat of political instability since 18 March 2014, the month when the internationally recognised Ukrainian territory of Crimea was annexed by the Russian Federation. This annexation led to dethroning of the then Ukraine’s pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. He was impeached (dismissed) on 22 February 2014 and toppled after he rejected an EU-Ukraine trade pact.

This no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister is a new blow to the future of Ukraine as it is could act as a threat to the Minsk ceasefire agreements, whose full implementation had been pushed back to an uncertain date in 2016. As per previous plan the agreement was supposed to be effective in December 2015.